Life Flight

Each week 28 people need time-critical aeromedical care. With your support, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and Air Ambulance Planes are there in their moment of need.

Meet Matese from Lower Hutt

Meet Matese

“In 2007, my then 5-week-old baby girl, Matese, suddenly became very ill. We brought her to the hospital, where she arrested three times before they could get her stable. She was put in an induced coma and was on life support.

She needed specialist care in Auckland, and she needed it quickly. The Life Flight team was called after midnight to get her to Starship. She was covered in tubes, and I couldn’t touch her. It was so scary, but you guys looked after my baby.

The diagnosis eventually came back as sepsis, and after two weeks at Starship, she was well enough to fly back to Lower Hutt. She ended up having the same Life Flight team that flew her to Auckland flying her home!”

The doctors were unsure if she would even survive the initial flight, but she pulled through it all and today, she is a happy and healthy nine-year-old. Thank you, Life Flight, for getting her there in time. She wouldn’t be here today without you!

– Renee, Matese’s mum

Related content

  • Read more about Westpac Rescue Helicopter

    Westpac Rescue Helicopter

    When speed is critical or when the location is remote or challenging, Life Flight’s Westpac Rescue Helicopter is called upon. Your local Westpac Chopper is ready for anything, 24/7, thanks to the generosity of the community.
    Read more
  • Read more about Meet Colin from Blenheim

    Meet Colin from Blenheim

    Colin Tandy barely clung to life after his truck rolled 80 metres down a Marlborough cliff.
    Read more
  • Read more about Meet Santiago from Wellington

    Meet Santiago from Wellington

    Kylie, her husband Fede and their two children went for a Sunday hike in the Remutaka Forest Park when disaster struck.
    Read more

Share this page: